74 ANGLING. 



The float you are on the whole better without one should be 

 very small ; a bit of quill an inch long will do, and the bait must 

 rest on the ground. 



When thus prepared, conceal yourself completely behind a tree 

 or bush : drop your bait as gently as if thistle-down were falling on 

 the water ; sum up the whole stock of your patience, and calmly 

 wait the event. As soon as you see the float or line move, let the 

 fish run away a short distance, and then check him very gently. 

 All attempts at striking will be merely ridiculous, as your ex- 

 tremely light tackle will be snapped in a moment. Only give him 

 plenty of line, just keeping pressure enough to stimulate his ex- 

 ertions, and you are sure of your prey. His very strength and 

 vigour will soon tire him, and you may thus draw him out with 

 security. 



Carp bite freely from February until June, and may then be 

 caught at all times of the day. From June to September they bite 

 well, mornin: and evening. After this it is useless to fish for them 

 with a Hue till February again. In the heats of summer, the night 

 is unquestionably the most favourable season for killing this shy 

 fish. You can see nothing, but then you cannot be seen ; and the 

 jerk of the line will infallibly tell you when you have got a fish. 



It is also recommended to ground bait the spot where you intend 

 to fish, some hours before you commence operations. The follow- 

 ing has been often eulogised as a favourite compost. Take a 

 quantity of well-cooked veal, a handful of oatmeal, and a little 

 honey, bruise them in a mortar, and mix them in a thin paste or 

 batter, with new milk, and a few grains of assafcetida. Crush 

 down in a mortar a quantity of worms, gentles, slugs, and some 

 lumps of the most tallowy cheese you can find ; thicken the veal 

 batter with this compound, jand then roll it up into little balls 

 these balls must be thrown into a compost of tallow greaves and. 

 grains steeped in bullock's blood, and the entire mess sunk in the 

 place you intend to fish, some hours before you commence. 



This, we are ^ informed, is a most attractive ground-bait ; and, 

 sure we are, it is sufficiently nasty to satisfy the most inflexible 

 advocates of such e^ound-bait practices. 



It is difficult to decide where the favourite haunts of the carp 

 really are, but the angler will always have the best chance of suc- 

 cess, who selects the most retired spots, and studiously keeps him- 

 self from observation. 



* Carp, like pike, may be taken with the snare, when they lie 

 basking in the sun. The operator must conceal himself as much 

 as he can, and then no more dexterity is required than in snaring 

 a pike. This is by no means an uncommon practice in France. 



